


do you ponder the manner of things in the dark

by Milzilla



Series: don't you ever tame your demons (but always keep 'em on a leash) [1]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, going to be part of a series of snapshots, shadowhunters au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 02:58:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19984948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milzilla/pseuds/Milzilla
Summary: our young shadowhunters (alex, kyle, liz and rosa) are called to maria's bar to meet with some downworlders seeking assistance. what will they do when faced with three warlocks and a dangerous proposal?





	do you ponder the manner of things in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> this is for day five of rnm week over on tumblr! prompt is freaky friday (character subversion/AUs, etc) and was really just an excuse to expand on one of my headcanon posts. this will probably end up being a series of snapshots, rather than a chaptered story.

"On your left!" Kyle shouts. Alex brings his blade _Sanvi_ down across the demon's chest, then uses his good foot to turn and plunge the blade into the forehead of the second demon. Both disappear in a puff of smoke, leaving Alex to turn and check in with Kyle, who's just dispatched his own demon. **  
**

"I can't believe you're still that quick," Kyle pants. "Even with the fake leg."

Alex grins at him, pressing his _stele_ to the healing rune on his forearm. A cut on his forehead begins to close itself.

"That's what happens when you put in the hours at training," he teases. "Instead of reading theory."

"That _theory_ saved your sorry ass last week," Kyle shoots back. He adjusts the grip on his blade and looks around the alleyway. "You think that was all of them?"

"Is it ever?" Alex sighs. "Come on. We have to secure the area before we go to Maria's."

Kyle nods. “I’ll call Liz and Rosa. Make sure they’re still good to meet us there.”

Alex spins _Sanvi_ in his hand as they round the corner. “You guys are talking now?” he asks.

Kyle’s answer is a shrug as he pulls the phone to his ear. “She’s gone back to actually hitting me during training, so I think we’re making progress.”

Alex shakes his head with a laugh and moves to cover Kyle’s six o’clock as they move down the next alleyway, struggling to contain further laughter when he can hear Liz answer the phone in complete exasperation.

“Uh huh,” he says, when Kyle hangs up. “Sounds like it’s going _really_ well.”

“Shut up,” Kyle grumbles, though there’s no real heat to it. “She said there’s still two imps on the radar but we’re way closer than they are. Two blocks down.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Of course we are,” he says, but he feels that growing restlessness push at him. He takes the end of his _stele_ and traces it over his _endurance_ ruin. Then he grins over at Kyle. “Race you there?”

Kyle huffs. “That’s not the point of--”

But Alex is already breaking into a run around the corner, knowing that Kyle will follow him, even if he was headed towards the end of the Earth. Towards a couple of imps is _nothing_.

*

They meet up with the Ortecho sisters a block away from the Wild Pony. Kyle and Liz greet each other awkwardly while Rosa throws an arm around Alex's shoulder, grinning the entire way as she recounts last night's escapades. They're all laughing by the time they reach the bar, mostly due to Rosa.

The laughter stops once they're inside the Pony when they see that they're not alone.

Maria stands behind the bar, her hair falling past her face in giant brown curls, pouring out drinks for the three guests already seated on the stools. She seems casual enough, but there's an underlying tension in her patrons that Alex doesn't like.

"Hey guys," Maria greets them without looking away from her work. "Come and take a seat."

Her three guests turn to look at them then, and Alex has to violently ignore the instinct to draw his blade.

The three are definitely warlocks. Even without the stark white hair of the woman, or the bright starlit eyes of one of the men, they all seem to crackle with power. And all three of them are looking over the Shadowhunters, calculating and assessing.

"Maria," Alex starts, taking only a few steps towards the bar. "What's this?"

" _This_ is your meeting," Maria informs him patiently. "They want to talk."

"We want to talk," one of the men echoes her; the one with no visible warlock mark. His tousled brown hair is purposefully styled, black button-up shirt paired with dark slacks. He's standing rigid beside his friends, one arm resting on the bar.

The other man is lounging backwards against the bar, looking as though he should fall off his stool at any minute. He looks the most casual of the three; white shirt, dark jeans, and brown boots.. He has a dark, fleece-lined jacket on, as well as a belt with a ridiculously large silver buckle. The look is topped off with a black cowboy hat, which does nothing to hide his yellow-bright eyes but does seem to be flattening some wild curls.

Alex allows himself exactly two seconds to look and appreciate. When he pulls back, those luminescent eyes are watching him.

"Which one of you is the Manes kid?" the woman asks, and his attention snaps to her. 

It quickly becomes evident that she's the most stylish amongst them, wearing a white and blue striped pantsuit that slides delicately up her ankles when she crosses one leg over the other. Her sharp, snow-white nails match her hair, which is pulled back in a tight ponytail.

Alex steps forward. "That would be me," he says. "Alexander Manes. And you are?"

"Isobel Evans," she replies. "My brothers Maxwell," she gestures to the one standing. "And Michael." The gesture changes seamlessly to indicate the other man. Alex’s gaze flickers from one to the other and in the time it takes for him to do that, Isobel has crossed the floor of the bar and is standing barely two feet from him.

Alex hears the sounds of his fellow Shadowhunters drawing their weapons. He only moves to lightly grip the handle of his blade. At the bar, Maxwell and Michael shift forward slightly, clearly ready to aid their sister if needed.

Isobel reaches a hand out towards Alex’s face but doesn’t touch him. He can see the sparks of magic at her fingertips as she inspects him.

“Are you a good daddy’s boy, soldier?” she asks, and Alex opens his mouth to answer, feeling compelled beyond reason to speak.

The slam of a bottle on the bar-top breaks the spell though and all faces turn to look at Maria.

“Cut the shit, Evans,” she says, glaring at Isobel. “The only mind reading that goes on in this bar is the kind that fills my tip jar.”

“Your bar DeLuca,” Isobel says, stepping backwards until she can slide back onto her stool. “Your rules.”

“ _Mierda_.” Rosa whistles, low and amused.

Alex puts out a hand and gestures for them all to put their weapons away. The two men at the bar seem to relax back into their positions.

“I’m sure you’re not here to talk about my father,” Alex says, and hopes that’s true. He doesn’t want to talk about his father to a bunch of warlocks. He barely wants to talk about him to his friends. “What do you want?”

Isobel taps a finger to her chin as she regards him thoughtfully. “We want your -- assistance.”

Alex looks back at Kyle who gives an almost imperceptible shrug. He turns back to the bar.

“Is there a demon problem we don’t know about?” he asks. _One_ warlock wouldn’t be asking for help from Shadowhunters. He can’t even begin to fathom what a triad of warlocks would need assistance with.

Isobel laughs. “No, of course not. The problem is an -- internal one.”

Alex frowns. “We can’t get involved with warlock business.”

“We know,” Isobel says. “But we want you to get involved. We are --” she looks to her brothers, then back to Alex. “--displeased with the current Manhattan leadership.”

Alex purses his lips. “You’re talking about Noah Bracken, the High Warlock of Manhattan.” They’ve dealt with him enough that Alex knows he’s not a kind or forgiving man, and that his speciality involves mind warping and the removal of memories. They’ve never been able to pin him for any behaviour that breaks the Accords but all the New York Shadowhunters know to be wary of him. “So call an election. Dethrone him. Whatever it is you guys do to get a new High Warlock.”

One of the brothers ( _Michael_ , Alex reminds himself, refusing to let his gaze linger) scoffs. “If it were that easy, Shadowhunter, would we be here asking for _your_ help?”

“You shouldn’t be asking for our help at all,” Kyle speaks up. “Pretty sure none of us are in the mood to break the Accords tonight.”

Rosa shrugs and gives a non-committal noise, which makes Liz laugh, but they don’t disagree.

Isobel looks between them all, clearly unimpressed. “If you know about Bracken then you know he breaks your pretty little Accords all the time.”

“We don’t have any clear evidence --” Liz starts to say.

“We can get you that evidence,” Isobel talks over her. She looks back to the brothers, who both nod. “We’ll do anything you require,” she confirms. “But we want him removed and it has to be done by Shadowhunters.”

“You mean it has to look like you had no hand in it,” Alex puzzles it out. “One of you wants the position.”

They all exchange surprised, wary looks.

“Not necessarily...” Isobel starts.

“So, you want us to sort this problem out for you so that you can sweep in and fill the power vacuum,” Alex says, emotionless. It’s a puzzle, nothing more. Not three, powerful, potential allies, no three potentially dangerous wild cards running around New York, and certainly not a pair of bright eyes in the face of a man who makes Alex’s insides flutter every time their gazes accidentally meet. “I’m still not convinced.”

Isobel sighs and leans across the bar to take the drink Maria had poured for her. She takes a sip, puts the glass back down, and waits a moment before replying. “Besides the fact that we’ll be helping you to remove a treacherous villain, protecting the lives of both Shadowhunters and Downworlders, we will also owe you a favour.”

Alex’s eyes narrow.

“Each.”

He exhales slowly as he considers her words. Warlocks don’t grant favours; they do business. They never do anything for free and usually the thing they want in return is money. To have just one favour from a warlock would be useful. To have _three_ was nearly unfathomable. His mind raced with the things they could ask of the trio. Ways that they could fortify the Institute. Things they could do amongst the Downworlders. Ways that they could help to wrestle control of the Institute away from his father.

“Give us a minute to talk,” he says, but the look on Isobel’s face tells him that she knows she has them.

The four of them slip into the room behind Maria’s bar, which acts as both a storage room for the bar, but also as a safe room where the Shadowhunters could come and meet with Downworlder contacts for a round table discussion.

“This is a stupid idea,” Liz says, as Maria shuts the door behind them.

“I think they’ve got big _cojones_ for even asking,” Rosa comments, perching herself on top of a storage crate. “You could’ve warned us though, Maria.”

Maria leans her shoulder against the door and shrugs. “You guys are my friends but I’m not an official Shadowhunter. I promised neutrality and a fair chance across the board. Unless they piss me off.” She taps her hip, where they all know she keeps a blade that rarely sees the light of day.

Liz sets her bow on the table and presses her hands to the wood. “We can’t say yes, Alex. The Accords _specifically say_ \--”

“Yes, we all know what they _say_.” Rosa rolls her eyes and kicks her legs. “But Bracken’s bad news; we all know it. The bosses won’t do anything about it because it’s too messy for them.”

Maria nods from her position at the door. “They’d rather Downworlders fight amongst themselves and clean up their own mess afterwards.”

Liz lets out a frustrated _huff_. “What do you think, Alex?”

Alex has been trying to think his way through the situation since Isobel had stopped speaking. He’d looked up briefly and caught Kyle’s gaze, realising that Kyle had been watching _him_ since they’d entered the room.

Alex bites his lip pensively. Kyle’s brow furrows in question. Alex tries for an innocent expression. Kyle rolls his eyes, then turns to face the rest of the group.

“Of course we’re going to help them,” he says.

Liz frowns. “You guys know it’s creepy when you do that, right?”

They grin at each other for a second, then turn serious again.

“Rosa’s right,” Alex says. “We’ve been having trouble with Bracken for years. It would benefit _us_ just as much for him to be gone.”

“And we’re just going to let one of them take over?” Liz asks, gesturing to the bar beyond the door.

“We’ll have to deal with that when we come to it,” Alex tells her. “Besides, Liz, think how good it’ll be to have three warlocks owing us favours. They could help us with our problem.” _My dad_ , he doesn’t say.

Liz grits her teeth but she’s silent this time.

Alex looks around the room. “All in favour?”

Everyone raises their hands, even if Liz does it a little slower than the others.

“Alright, back out there,” he gestures to the door, which Maria opens for them. He waits, catching Kyle before he can walk out of the room.

“What do you really think?” he asks.

Kyle raises his eyebrows. “I voted for the plan.”

Alex fixes him with an unimpressed stare. “You didn’t argue with me in front of the others, which I appreciate, but we’re _parabatai_. I know there’s something.”

Kyle rubs his hand over his face and nods. “Yeah. It’s risky, working with any Downworlders. What if they end up being worse than Bracken? Then we’ve gotta deal with _three_ of them.”

“I know.”

“Exactly.” Kyle looks at him with fond exasperation. “I know you’d considered all the angles before we even got in the room. I _trust you_ , Alex. If you think we should do this…” he makes a grand sweeping gesture towards the door. “Let’s do it.”

Immense pride and gratefulness sweep through Alex. He grips Kyle’s elbow in thanks as he walks past him and through the door, back into the bar where everyone else is waiting.

“Okay,” he says, attention back on the three warlocks. He can feel the stare of the bright-eyed one boring a hole in the side of his face but he takes a deep breath and focuses on Isobel. “Say we help you; what’s your plan?”

Isobel’s lips curl into a grin.


End file.
